My Microsoft Azure Journey

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals > Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate > Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer Expert > MSUS Cloud Skills Challenge Champion > Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert

That's the path I took for my Microsoft certifications ??

1. Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)

I attempted the AZ-900 after I completed my training from Hanu Software, which was conducted nicely by Vikas Kumar sir in October 2020. He is a fantastic trainer and expert on azure?. I was a bit nervous as this was the first certification exam of my life. But when I started the test all seemed easy as I had done well in the training and had revised well also.

For this exam I prepared from this YouTube playlist (Az-900 - YouTube).

And also went through the questions from AZ-900 Exam – Free Actual Q&As by ExamTopics.

2. Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)

This is the most famous associate level azure exam that one can take to test their skills and expertise on almost every aspect of Azure. I prepared about one week for this test and then cleared it straightaway. The course outline for this exam is very vast and one needs to think carefully while studying for it.

For this exam I prepared from this YouTube playlist (Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator).

And also went through the questions from AZ-104 Exam – Free Actual Q&As by ExamTopics. Also, it is advisable to revise the questions from AZ-103 Exam – Free Actual Q&As by ExamTopics as the AZ-103 was in practice before the AZ-104.

3. Microsoft Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400)

After doing the Administrator certification, I thought about what I could do next ??

I came across this one where the AZ-104 was a pre-requisite. So I was at an advantage here.

DevOps is a new and trending field empowering IT automation in which, the ability to combine people, process, and technologies to continuously deliver valuable products and services that meet end user needs and business objectives, is always required.

For this exam I prepared from this Whizlabs course (Whizlabs AZ-400 Course).

And also went through the learning path from MS Learn (My AZ-400 Collection on MS Learn).

4. MSUS Cloud Skills Challenge Champion

Hanu Software had organized the Cloud Skills Challenge - 4 in association with Microsoft. Two weeks into the challenge and I was already on top of the leaderboard as I was getting more and more interested in Azure technologies day after day. Full credit goes to Microsoft Learn for their in-depth and fun learning paths on all things Azure ! Suddenly one day on my week-off I got an email from Microsoft US Azure Team stating that I had been awarded this badge by them. My happiness knew no bounds ??

5. Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-303 and AZ-304)

This is the ULTIMATE certification that you can do in Azure. This was a tough one too.

Two exams. Lots of topics. Real hard work. That's what it takes to clear the azure solutions architect expert.

If the AZ-303 and AZ-304 were related to construction worker roles, the worker with the AZ-304 in their toolbelt would design the architectural blueprint; the worker with the AZ-303 would implement the building project.

• AZ-304 (previously the AZ-301) will be focusing on capturing business needs using real-world examples, constraints, and business objectives, and selecting solution implementations based on the requests of an organization.
• AZ-303 (previously the AZ-300) takes those solutions and ensures that they are properly built, implemented, or migrated.

For this exam I prepared from these Whizlabs courses (Whizlabs AZ-303 Course and Whizlabs AZ-304 Course).

And also went through the learning path from MS Learn (My AZ-303 & AZ-304 Collection on MS Learn).

That's my Microsoft Certification story. I feel really lucky and confident to have achieved so much ! My parents (Reena Nag and Steve Subroto Sircar) are truly proud of me ?? and I feel good about it ??.

SUPRATIM SIRCAR

Cloud Analyst @ Hanu Software